What Annual Streaming Trends Tell Us About India’s Top Musicians of 2023

Tis the season for all of India’s reigning artists on streaming platforms to come to the front, in one way or another. Even if it isn’t through concrete data about the number of streams, the likes of Spotify, Apple Music, Wynk Music and Amazon Music have had us Wrapped, Rewind, Replay and Recap, among other actions.

While Spotify Wrapped undoubtedly draws most of the eyes for not just for its aesthetic and presentation, like with most stats related to the vast Indian population, it can only claim to hold a mirror up to a certain share of the country’s music listening audience. While YouTube is among the most-used platforms for music, we don’t have much beyond the weekly stats of top streamed songs. That said, here’s a platform-wise look at the streaming trends highlighted by some of the major players in India and what it tell us.

Spotify Wrapped India

According to Spotify India stats, Arijit Singh, Pritam and Anirudh Ravichander are among the most streamed artists in India in 2023. While Singh may not have shared his Wrapped card, Pritam – behind big hits like “Kesariya” from Brahmastra and “Tere Pyaar Mein” from Tu Jhoothi Mein Makkaar – showed off his stats, with 4.5 billion streams. Anirudh – the singer-composer behind the hugely popular soundtracks to Jawan (“Chaleya”) and Leo (“Badass”) – shared that he had 2.8 billion streams in India in 2023.

The top 10 most streamed artists on Spotify India are entirely dominated by film soundtrack artists, except late Punjabi star Sidhu Moose Wala, whose tragic death in 2022 seems to have propelled more fandom and an everlasting legacy in the making. His 2021 full-length Moosetape snagged the third-most streamed album on Spotify as well.

Albums from previous years seem to stay in the top 10 for Spotify listeners, with the exception of Punjabi-Canadian artist Shubh’s Still Rollin’ which came out in 2023 and KING’s Champagne Talk from October 2022.

KING enjoys the top spot for the most streamed song of the year on Spotify India, with “Maan Meri Jaan” being quite ahead. Even more curious, though, is the second spot, secured by Karachi singer-songwriter Kaifi Khalil’s tune “Kahani Suno 2.0,” also from 2022. It goes to show that borders might divide us, but when it comes to music, Indians are more than happy to put a good song on repeat. This was in fact just as evident in 2022, when Ali Sethi and Shae Gill’s “Pasoori” was among the most streamed songs.

Only four out of the top 10 most streamed songs are from movie soundtracks, which continues to give a strong indication that a good song need not necessarily be attached to a film.

Apple Music Replay India

A fully paid service unlike Spotify, Wynk or YouTube, Apple Music’s India Top 100 songs brought up quite a few differences in listening habits. Arijit Singh still sat the top spot, though, with “Apna Bana Le” by composers Sachin-Jigar and lyricist Amitabh Bhattacharya from the movie Bhediya clinching the top spot on the playlist. KING’s “Maan Meri Jaan” came in second, followed by AP Dhillon’s “Dil Nu” with Shinda Kahlon and international songs like “Calm Down” by Rema and Selena Gomez. Dhillon’s song “Summer High” comes in at the fifth spot, followed by “Kesariya” from Brahmastra and “Baller” by Shubh and Ikky.

Punjabi music certainly dominates the Top 100, even by Apple Music’s own admission. Dhillon and Shubh are joined by Riar Saab and Abhijay Sharma’s “Obsessed” and Sharn, 40K and THE Paul’s “Mi Amor.” In the top 20, Shubh has three more songs and Dhillon has two more, with fellow Punjabi-Canadian artist Karan Aujla’s “On Top” also in the top 20.

Within the top 10, however, sandwiched between those Punjabi hitmakers is “Besharam Rang” by Vishal-Shekhar, Shilpa Rao and Caralisa Monteiro from the movie Pathaan. It makes Rao and Monteiro the only female Indian artists in the top 10 on Apple Music in India.

Wynk Rewind 2023

Arijit Singh, Pritam and Amitabh Bhattacharya emerge as the top three artists on Wynk Music as well, but it’s not because of “Kesariya.” For Singh and Bhattacharya, their work on “Phir Aur Kya Chahiye” (from the soundtrack to Zara Hatke Zara Bachke with Sachin-Jigar put them among Wynk Music’s top streamed artists. For Pritam, it was “Tum Kya Mile” and “What Jhumka” from Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani.

The platform’s top three streamed songs, however, painted a different story – Jasleen Royal’s “Heeriye” (featuring Arijit Singh, because he’s everywhere) was the most streamed song, followed by “Chaleya” by Anirudh Ravichander (and sung by, you guessed it, Singh and Shilpa Rao) and Vishal Mishra and Shreya Ghoshal’s “Zihaal e Miskin.”

There was also a language-wise breakdown of top artists offered by the platform, with Arijit Singh dominating Hindi (and Bengali) songs and Anirudh Ravichander leading Tamil. S.S. Thaman was the most streamed for his Telugu songs, while Taylor Swift was the most streamed artist with English songs and Karan Aujla for Punjabi. Other top artists include rapper MC Square in Haryanvi, composer Arjun Janya in Kannada, composer-singer Hesham Abdul Wahab in Malayalam and Zubeen Garg in Assamese, among others.

Amazon Music Best of the Year

Included with a Prime membership with the retail company, Amazon Music shared that Anirudh Ravichander’s “Chaleya” was the top track of 2023, with Shilpa Rao earning the spot of top artist this year.

The top streamed Hindi song on the platform was “Tere Vaaste” from Zara Hatka Zara Bachke, composed by Sachin-Jigar and sung by Varun Jain, Shadab Faridi and Altamash Faridi.

Miley Cyrus’ viral hit “Flowers” was the most streamed international song on Amazon Music, with fellow pop artists Taylor Swift and Dua Lipa noted as the top streamed international artists in the country.

In terms of streams, Kerala indie-folk act When Chai Met Toast and Haryanvi hip-hop artist MC Square were the top indie and hip-hop artists of the year, respectively.

Similar to language-based music trends on other platforms, Ravichander remained the top Tamil artist, Aujla, Diljit Dosanjh and AP Dhillon were among the most streamed Punjabi artists and S.S. Thaman was the top Telugu artist on Amazon Music in India.